Duck Noodle Soup

What to do with a left over duck? Make broth! What to do with duck broth? Make duck noodle soup!

Everyone makes broth differently but here is a basic run down of how I make it. Chunk up an onion, a parsnip, a couple carrots, a couple ribs of celery, and a couple cloves of garlic. Put all the veggies into a stock pot with the carcass (stripped of all good meat, but put the skin and stringy stuff into the pot). Throw in a packet of fresh poultry herbs, a couple bay leaves, some whole peppercorns and some kosher salt. Throw in a Parmesan cheese rind if you have it. Cover it with water and bring to a boil. Then reduce to a low -low as it goes- simmer and simmer for 12 hours. I often leave this simmering while I sleep. The next morning or whenever it's finished, turn off the heat and wait till it cools. Scoop out the chicken (or duck), the veggies and all the chunks. Strain the rest to get the herbs and peppercorns out. Let the broth sit in the fridge or freezer until the fat solidifies and you can scoop it off. Save that for something else! I always have a weird inclination to save all of the used bones and veggies, but alas, they are pretty used up by this point.

You can freeze the broth to use for another time or use it right away, which is what I did here. It feels odd cutting up and adding back all the same veggies I just took out...

With new veggies, waiting for the meat and noodles.

I didn't get a ton of meat off the duck. But enough for soup!

All was lovely until it came time for the noodles. Heavy handed that I am, you would think I wouldn't just freely pour things without measuring. *doh'* Way, WAY too many egg noodles went in. I did my best to scoop them out, but ended up needing to add more of my reserved broth. Even then, this was so thick with noodles it was like a stew. The broth was fantastic and I wanted it to be center stage, but I blew that. Noodles were center stage.

I consulted this recipe and just made it up as I went along. Chicken noodle is pretty hard to screw up. -Says the girl that screwed it up. Haha!